Concurrent with Tyler's Search: Prologue
Note: TS: Sara is a companion story to Tyler's Search, and most of the story happens there. I'll occasionally add parts to this as Tyler's story progresses, but it probably won't be more than six or seven total.
Sara blinked awake, feeling her mate Luke brush against her fur as he rose. He bent down, and they rubbed faces lovingly before he continued out of the den for his morning patrol. Neither of them said a word, not wanting to wake their children, but a touch was enough.
Sometimes Sara would go back to sleep after her mate left the den, but she didn't feel tired this morning, so she simply lay there and thought. Winter was well and truly over; the last snows had melted over a week before, and the days were warming. Sara loved the spring, loved stretching her leaves and feeling the sunlight flowing into her. A Leafeon, Sara was almost as much plant as animal. Her ears and tail were leaves; another grew from her head. Her fur had a greenish tint to it, and absorbed sunlight as well as her leaves did. She could plant her paws too, absorbing nutrients and water from the soil. Though she didn't particularly like to, Sara could easily survive without eating or drinking if necessary.
Her thoughts drifting back to the present, Sara turned to look at her children, still sleeping, curled into balls in the back of the den. Though they looked nearly identical like that, Sara knew where each liked to sleep. As she watched them, slumbering peacefully, she marveled again how they could all be so different. It seemed as if they had sectioned off the whole range of personality and each taken a slice. Carson had immediately taken after Luke, wanting to slip into his place and protect everyone, while Kara was more like her, quiet and reserved. Kara spoke little, but watched everything. She turned to her second litter. Tyler and Skylar were born brothers, inseparable, but they couldn't be more different. Skylar was headstrong and bold, always being the first to charge in and try something new. He was the fastest of his siblings and took a child's pride in it, dead set on becoming a lightning-fast Jolteon.
Tyler, on the other hand, was more careful. Not that he had ever been one to back down, but he liked to size things up before jumping in headlong – sometimes literally. Sara smiled, thinking of the number of times she had heard a shout of surprise, turning to find Tyler standing a few feet back from a snapped branch or streambank – and Skylar laid out flat beneath it. Skylar was always the first to lead the way, but Tyler seemed to take charge once things didn't turn out as planned, and Skylar, pride and eagerness sufficiently dampened by that point, would usually follow.
That left Sasha, her youngest. Sasha had been born alone, a rarity, and like her siblings she had taken her own unique piece of the personality spectrum. Sasha was always bright and perky, with a stubborn streak a mile long. She wanted to be involved in everything and was always excited to talk about something she had just seen or done. Her biggest secret was what she wanted to evolve into, but knowing her, Sara wondered how long it would be until she couldn't stand it anymore and told everyone.
Evolution. They all had to be thinking about it. Skylar was the only one who had openly declared what he wanted to be, but, being the pivotal moment in a young Eevee's life, it had to weigh on their minds as it had once weighed on hers. Carson, aggressive, protective, and strong, would probably become a Flareon like Luke, whom he idolized. Kara, quiet and reserved, seemed apt to become an Umbreon, Glaceon, or – Sara thought a little wistfully – perhaps a Leafeon like herself. About Skylar, there was no question in anyone's mind – least of all his. Sasha, too, had her mind made up, and though she never said, Sara suspected she would evolve into an Espeon. That left Tyler. Of all her children, he seemed the most worried about evolution; true to form, he worried about the decision likely even more than he would admit. Sara wasn't worried about him. She could see him as Vaporeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, or even Glaceon. Any of those would suit his personality better than he could understand now.
Looking over her children, curled up and sleeping peacefully, Sara was struck again by how blessed she and Luke were to have such a vibrant family. She worried sometimes that something would happen to them, but it comforted her to know that they would have each other to rely on – and a diverse group of Eons made a formidable team indeed.
Her pondering was interrupted as a ray of sun that had been creeping into the den finally reached Tyler, who yawned and stretched, blinking at the new day. His movement woke the others, and the den was quickly filled with small sounds as her children shook themselves awake. Skylar and Sasha, as usual, were the first ones up, full of energy and already looking ready to run outside. Carson rose more slowly, while Kara, as she usually did, lifted her head but lay serene for a few moments, waiting for the last vestiges of sleep to disperse. Tyler stayed where he was as well, staring into space – so early in the morning and already lost in thought, Sara thought with a flicker of amusement. Well, no more than she had been. Reminded of the time, she thought back to when Luke had left. Each morning and most nights, he went out, tracing a wide circle around their den, constantly watching for anything that might signal danger. He ought to be back right about now.
A few moments later, in fact, Sara's sensitive ears picked up Luke's returning footfalls, and a few moments after that he appeared in the mouth of the den, a bunch of berries in his mouth. Their children immediately crowded around him, hungry as ever. Once they had all picked out the 'juiciest' berries for themselves and settled down to eat, Sara picked her way over to her mate, brushing against his flank. He seemed relaxed, so Sara simply asked, "All quiet out there?"
"All quiet," he confirmed. "It's going to be a beautiful day." He bent down and snagged several berries from the small pile that remained, offering them to her. She accepted with a smile, and they crouched down together to eat.
Before she was half done, Skylar came bounding up. "Can we go out now?" he asked.
"Wash the berry juice off your face first," Sara answered. Skylar usually ate, as he did everything else, at a breakneck pace, and tended to make a mess of himself in the mornings.
"You didn't even look!" Skylar complained.
"I don't have to," she said, suppressing a smile. "I'm your mother. I know you."
"C'mon!" Skylar complained again. Sara finally looked up from eating. Skylar's face was stained blue with berry juice.
"Wash your face," she repeated, going back to her meal. Defeated, Skylar sat and started licking a paw, scrubbing at the juice stains.
After they had all finished eating and cleaned up (Skylar wasn't the only one who had gotten juice on himself) Luke took their children out to play in the clearing, while Sara went to tend her berry bushes. There were six dotted around the forest near their den, and Sara always made sure they were strong, healthy, and productive. Other Pokémon came to forage at her bushes too, but Sara didn't mind. They all shared the forest, and if you took one part out the rest would be diminished. Sara could sense the state of each plant and knew instinctively how to help each one grow. Two needed water; another had a dying branch that needed to be cleared away. With each bush she visited, she planted a paw briefly, linking to its roots and infusing some of her own energy into the plant so it would produce plenty of fruit. If only raising children were so easy, she thought ruefully. An innate sense of what they needed would be something.
Once she had tended to all of the bushes, Sara returned to the clearing. Luke saw her before her children did, and she heard him call out, "Mother's back. Are you ready for training?"
Luke had always been the protector of the family. Sara knew that his nightmares, when he had them, were of her or the children in danger and not being able to help them. The Flareon patrolled a wide area around their den morning and night, ever vigilant for anything that might threaten his family. He insisted on taking some time most days to train their little ones to fight, arguing that they needed to be ready to take care of themselves. Sara herself didn't like to fight much, but she knew there was wisdom in her mate's words, and she would join in the training herself. At her own insistence, they never matched their children against each other – always against their parents. Sara didn't want to teach any of her children to fight one another, and besides, she had argued, if they were going to train, they needed to get used to fighting bigger, stronger opponents, using their agility and sharpening their minds to match.
That morning, Luke announced that he would be dividing them into pairs to practice teamwork. He usually set up the trainings, and Sara was content to participate. She did like seeing her children working together, even if she would be their opponent. Luke had sometimes criticized her about going easy on her children, but they both knew it was without conviction. That was just how mothers were.
Kara and Sasha were the first to face her. As they got ready for the training, Luke gave his sons a last word of advice, telling them to split up and work to get him off balance first. Impetuous as always, Skylar replied, "I can knock Mother over!" Sara smiled to herself. If only he knew… Given a moment to brace herself, she could take a stronger blow without losing her footing than even Luke, who was a far more experienced fighter than she was. As she turned back to her daughters, she hoped they had been listening to Luke's words. Kara probably had, at least. With Sasha, it was anyone's guess. Luke turned to catch her eye, confirming that she was ready. With that, she turned to her daughters. "Let's go."
As soon as they started, Sasha charged. Sara easily sidestepped the Eevee, noting wryly that to her right, Skylar had just charged as well. Luke took Skylar head-on, knocking him back with enough time to turn and cuff Tyler into the grass as well. She shook her head and almost regretted it as Kara, who had been quietly stealing around to the side, chose that moment to make her own move, dashing in and leaping onto Sara's back. "You shouldn't get distracted, Mother!" Rather than answer or shake her off, Sara simply rolled over so that her weight was now smothering her daughter. Kara was a capable fighter and thought tactically, but it seemed that all of her children had missed the point of the exercise, if Luke's remonstrations to their sons were anything to go by.
Or had they? As Kara struggled to pull herself out from under her mother, Sasha came dashing in, aiming at Sara's head, which was now on the ground. She barely rolled to her feet in time to dodge. Back on her feet, she aimed a swipe at Sasha, who nimbly leaped back, and then they were all still again, Sara's eyes darting back and forth between her daughters as they sized each other up. Kara, again, started moving around her side, forcing Sara to watch both directions at once or have one of her daughters get behind her. For the moment, though, Kara and Sasha were both hanging back, which meant that her speed would give her an advantage if she attacked first, closing the distance to one of her daughters and leaving the other behind.
Her mind made up, Sara suddenly turned and sprinted at Sasha, who let out a little squeak of surprise. Keeping her head, though, Sasha dodged to one side, then, as Sara moved to follow, she changed direction, avoiding her mother and nearly causing Sara to trip. As she turned to follow, Sasha kept running in a circle. Kara was running in as well, only a few steps away now. As Kara leaped for her, Sara crouched underneath the jump, leaving Kara to hit her shoulders. Sara was about to follow up the move by surging up again and throwing her daughter off when Sasha, who had reversed direction again, pounced on her lowered head. She fell in a heap.
Her face inches from Sara's and her paws wrapped around her mother's neck, Sasha announced, "We got you, Mother!" The look of wide-eyed glee on her face, so close, made Sara burst out laughing. Encouraged, Sasha turned and pounced again, this time on Sara's shoulders. Sara turned, playfully sweeping her daughters up and hugging them to herself so they couldn't move. "Aaaaaaaa! Help!" Sasha squealed. Kara didn't say anything, but Sara could feel her daughter's body shaking with silent laughter.
A shadow fell over them. "Well, this looks serious." It was Luke, standing there with a smile on his face. Skylar and Tyler were right behind him, giggling at their sisters' predicament.
Sara looked up at her mate, unabashed. "They did very well."
"Ready to switch?" Luke, as he usually did, asked this question of no one in particular, and her children, knowing what to expect by now, all nodded. Sara did too; Kara and Sasha had handled themselves well.
Luke nodded as well. "All right. I want Carson and Sasha with me this time." Turning, he called, "Carson! Your turn." He turned and trotted back to a clear spot. Sasha wriggled out of Sara's grasp and bounded after him.
Rising and turning to her other three children, Sara thought for a moment. "Let's have Kara and… Tyler." They nodded and moved back. Skylar trotted to the edge of the training area and flopped on the ground to watch.
As the training progressed, Sara decided she was proud of the progress her children were making. They all worked pretty well together, although there were definite preferences. Carson and Kara, being littermates, worked particularly well together. Likewise, Tyler and Skyler preferred to fight side by side, and once Skylar got in control of his impulsiveness, they could pull off coordinated strings of attacks with amazing precision. It was almost as if they read each other's minds. The third pairing was something of a surprise: Kara and Sasha. Kara made every move carefully, always thinking tactics. Sasha didn't seem to know any tactics beyond dodge and attack, but she was quick and had a knack for sensing opportunities to strike. Kara, aware of this, would adjust her strategy to give her sister as many opportunities as possible, and Sasha invariably took advantage with surprising effectiveness.
After training for a while, all of their children were starting to get tired. Sara was breathing hard herself, and she could see that Luke was as well. He called a halt, and Sara and her mate led their children to the stream so they could all drink. Afterward, they returned to the clearing. It was too nice a day to waste, so they let the children play for a while, while they rested. Not surprisingly, the young Eevee, still worn out from training, came back after just a few minutes and lay down in the shade next to Luke.
Sara stayed in the light, stretching her body and her leaves as far as she could to take in as much sun as possible she lay on her side. She closed her eyes and smiled, basking in the sun's rays and feeling their energy flow into her. Before she left her home to join Luke, she and her own mother, who was an Espeon and had her own connection to sunlight, had often gone out to lay in the sun together and talk. She had enjoyed those times, and Mother had been delighted that one of her children had grown to enjoy the feeling of sun streaming into her like she did. It had made their relationship that much stronger.
Looking over her own children, now chatting happily among themselves, Sara was struck with a wave of pride at how strong they had all become. They couldn't compete with their parents right now, not really, but that was mostly a matter of size and power – not that Sara ever used her special abilities in their training matches. They had developed their skills a lot, though – moving, dodging, judging when the time was right to strike, and never letting their guards down when they were facing her or Luke. Soon, they would be ready to learn about energy, the power that was inside all Pokémon, that set them apart from every other living thing. Carson and Kara might be ready now. It was one of the final steps before evolution, because the same energy that fueled their powers would one day be the key to unlocking their birthright as Eevee. There were risks as well – overusing and exhausting their power could slow their growth and set back their evolution by months – but she and Luke would be there to guide them and prevent that from happening.
As she thought, Sara listened with one ear to her children. Skylar and Sara were now vying for attention, talking about how well they'd done in training. Sara loved to hear their enthusiasm. Then the conversation shifted gears, with Carson asking Luke when they would be ready to evolve. Luke didn't seem to have a ready response, so Sara stepped in. "For most young Eevee, it's when you're about two years old. That's not too far away for you now. As for how you'll know when that is… You'll be able to feel it."
That immediately got everyone's attention, and the young Eevee started clamoring to know how they would feel it. Luke responded, "It's kind of hard to explain, but you can feel something building up inside of you. Eventually, you start to feel… almost like you'll burst out of your skin. Yes, that's it. That's when you're ready to change."
Burst out of your skin? Really? Sara fixed her mate with a sharp look, just as Sasha exclaimed, "That sounds like it hurts!"
"Don't worry," Sara answered, still glaring at Luke. See? "It can be a little uncomfortable, but it doesn't hurt."
"What does it feel like when you change?" Sasha asked.
Sara had evolved into a Leafeon several years before, and the question took her back, springs, summers, and winters blurring back to when she was an Eevee herself, traveling with her own mother, an Espeon, to a large, moss-covered rock that looked older than the forest itself…
At her mother's instruction, Sara had slept on the rock that night, and when morning came and the first rays of sun hit her, the energy that had been flowing, then rushing through her for weeks suddenly burst out, surging through her body with a new force. The trees surrounding the rock turned white, highlighted by a glow the young Eevee had realized with a start was coming from herself. She could feel her legs lengthen and grow strong; green tinted her vision, along with other changes too numerous to comprehend. When the light died away, the first thing she noticed was a feeling that seemed to have awoken in the back of her mind. The forest, always so lush and green, now felt alive. She could sense the trees, tall, strong, and ageless; the grasses and small plants that carpeted the ground, and the moss she lay on, clinging to the rock like a living skin. Sara took a deep breath, looking down and catching sight of her mother, who sat at the base of the nearest tree, beaming with pride. She leapt from the rock to the ground, a height that no longer seemed as daunting as it had the night before, and walked over, noticing as she did so that there were tears in Mother's lavender eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Sara had asked, suddenly worried.
Mother smiled gently. "No, Sara. You're just so beautiful, and I couldn't be more proud of you. You'll understand one day. How do you feel?"
Sara looked up at the sky and the forest before answering. "It's amazing! I can feel… so much. There's so much life here, I never… I never knew."
Luke had just finished speaking, and Sara took a deep breath, pondering how best to express herself. "Everything you felt building up inside, suddenly comes bursting out. It runs all through you, and when it stops… you're different." Words suddenly didn't seem adequate, and Sara found herself stumbling.
Carson, who was taking this all very seriously, asked, "What's it like, suddenly being different?"
Again, Sara struggled to describe her feelings. "It's strange at first… but it's not like you aren't you anymore." How do I explain this? "It seems more like…" She trailed off, and this time Luke came to her rescue.
"Like part of you woke up that you never knew was there," he added quietly.
Sara looked at him again, this time gratefully. "Yes. That's it."
Her children took a while to digest all of this. Then Tyler broke the silence. "How did you and Father know what you wanted to become?"
Sara looked at him for a moment, considering. Tyler always came back to that. He was so concerned about what his own evolution should be; it almost broke her heart sometimes to see how worried he became whenever the subject came up.
It wasn't the first time she had answered the question, so she said again, "I always loved plants, even from a very young age. As soon as I felt the change coming, I knew where I needed to go – to one of the moss stones." She knew he was looking for something different, some part of his personality that would tell him what to be. Truthfully, what Sara thought he needed was to stop looking for something to tell him what to be and make his own choice. When the day came and he evolved, he would find that being "wrong" wasn't nearly as important as he thought it was. Sara sighed. "You'll understand one day." Those had been her mother's words to her, and now they applied to her children. None of them could understand yet what was in store for them.
"For me, it was a bit different. I wanted to be strong and ready to protect my family and friends. I wanted to be able to keep enemies away." When Luke had made his decision, he had been motivated by strength, and had chosen a legacy of flame. For him, it hadn't been about what he wanted to be, but about who he already was. It was another lesson she wished her children could understand.
Now the conversation turned to what they would do once they had made their decision, and Luke explained to their children that they would accompany each of them alone to find the stone or place that would trigger the evolution into the form they had chosen. Luke would take Carson, then Skylar and Tyler, and Sara would take their daughters, Kara and Sasha, as Eons had been doing with their young for generations.
The conversation trailed off then, and as the seriousness faded from the air, their children scampered up again, their energy and enthusiasm restored by the rest, and started playing, hiding behind trees and trying to sneak up on each other, leaving Sara and Luke a rare moment alone together. He stood, walking into the sun, and lay down facing her. "Sorry about that," he said, and it took Sara a moment to realize he was referring to her annoyance at his earlier comment about bursting.
"It's all right," Sara answered. She couldn't stay angry at him, and anyway, it hadn't been anything serious. "You made up for it."
He flashed her a warm smile. "Thanks."
She turned her gaze to their children, now launching themselves on top of one another in a confusion of brown fur. "They're getting more interested in evolution all the time. I think it's time to teach Carson and Kara about energy."
Luke nodded thoughtfully. "I think so too. They're growing up fast." He looked at her. "When should we start?"
"Today. It's still early afternoon, and we do have the rest of the day."
Slowly, Luke nodded again. Sara wasn't surprised; it was a little sudden. Then his ears pricked up. Rather than ask him what it was, she took a moment to listen herself. There it was: a faint sound. It might have been a scuffle. "I'm going to check it out," Luke announced. "It's probably nothing, but…" He stretched out his neck and touched noses with her. "I'll be right back."
Luke got to his paws and started moving at a fast pace, but not a run. He didn't head straight for the noise, either, instead tracing out an arc that would let him come from the side. Kara had definitely inherited his tactical way of approaching things. Sara watched him until he vanished into the trees; soon she couldn't hear him either.
Some of her children watched him go, then turned to her. "It's all right," she soothed. "Father heard something out in the woods, so he's just going to make sure everything's all right. He'll be back in a few minutes." Satisfied, they went back to playing. Sara didn't say it, but she worried a little for Luke every time he left, even though she knew that there was very little in the area that could really threaten him, even Catchers.
She didn't have long to wait. After a few minutes, Luke came trotting out of the forest again, and she relaxed. As he reached her, Sara asked, "Anything?"
"Nothing much. Just a couple of Spearow squabbling over something or other." He raised his voice a little as he said this, so their children, who almost certainly wanted to know what was going on, could hear. Turning to her again, Luke asked, "Are you ready for this?"
Sara nodded. She considered standing up for a moment, but she didn't want anyone to worry about being in trouble, so she sat instead. "Carson, Kara," she called, "Could you come over here?"
Looking a little confused, the two Eevee split off from their siblings and came over to sit in front of their parents. "Is everything all right?" Carson asked.
"Yes, you're fine," Sara reassured them. She looked over at Luke, wondering who should begin, and he looked right back at her. You started this. She nodded and cleared her throat. "You two are the oldest, and we decided it's time for you to learn something."
"Is this about evolution?" Kara asked.
Luke nodded. "There's something you need to learn about first. That feeling we were talking about earlier, it's has more to do with than just evolution, and you need to know about it to be ready. It's something called energy."
The Eevee looked at each other. "What's energy?"
Sara answered. "It's a special power. More than a power, though. All Pokémon have it; it's what makes us different."
Carson looked confused. "What do you mean, different?"
"Well, have you ever wondered why there are normal bugs and bug Pokémon?" Luke asked. Kara nodded, and after a moment, Carson did too. "Energy is something inside us. It makes us what we are, stronger and smarter than normal animals. We can think, and we can talk and understand each other. Sometimes it gives us special powers. It's something all Pokémon share, more or less."
"So then, that's how you can breathe fire and Mother can make plants grow," Kara surmised.
"Yes," replied Sara in turn. "Although there are a few things you can do with it as Eevee too. You can use it to enhance your speed and strength. With practice, you can even shield yourselves from attacks."
"Now that you're old enough," her mate added, "we're going to teach you how to use it. It's something you should know before we make the trip to evolve." He looked at them. "Any questions?"
"When do we start?" Carson asked.
Luke chuckled. "We'll take some time to train you two tomorrow."
Kara was looking down as she often did while thinking. "What is it, Kara?" Sara prodded.
"Well… I was just wondering… why haven't you told us any of this before?"
Luke nodded. "It's a good question," he said. "The reason is, if you try to use energy before you're ready, it can cause problems, even keep you from being able to evolve for months – or years. We didn't want anyone trying to experiment." He fixed them both with a look. "So we're also asking you not to mention this to your brothers and sister. We'll tell them when they get old enough."
They both nodded solemnly, and Luke reached out a fatherly paw to ruffle their fur. "That's all for now. We'll start your training tomorrow."
Carson and Kara walked away, but didn't join their siblings. Instead, they sat down a short distance away, talking. Sara wasn't surprised. It was a lot to take in. Carson and Kara were also both inclined to take things seriously. Another thought occurred to her, and she shuddered a little.
Luke was instantly alert. "Are you all right?" he asked solicitously.
Sara nodded seriously. "Watching them go off and discuss things so seriously makes me wonder… what would have happened if Sasha were the oldest?"
He stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending, then suddenly burst out laughing. "I think if she tried to keep something like this quiet, she'd explode."
Once they had both stopped laughing, Sara drew a little closer to her mate, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm glad things turned out the way they did." Luke nodded and took a deep, slow breath, then sighed contentedly, eyes on their children. He turned and pressed his head against hers. "I'm glad too."
They stayed like that for a few minutes. Sara wished it could be all day, but soon Tyler, Skylar, and Sasha came running up, hungry and thirsty. Overhearing, Kara and Carson got up from where they had been conversing and joined them, and so they all went down to the stream. After her children had finished drinking and splashing in the water, Sara led the way to one of her bushes so they could all eat.
When they had finished, Sara and Luke let the five young Eevee play in the clearing again until the sun was low in the sky. Luke turned to Sara. "I'm going to patrol around again before it gets dark. Do you mind handling things here?"
Sara agreed, and Luke turned and trotted back out into the forest. She called her children over. "The day's almost over. It's time to get ready to sleep." They all protested loudly, as they did almost every night, but did as she said. Once they had all returned to the den, Sara took the time to wash each one of them, straightening their fur and pulling out grass and tangles. Sasha asked if she ever had to wash Father like this, making her chuckle. "Not very often," she answered, looking her daughter in the eye. Sasha found this hilarious.
By the time Sara had finished with all of her children, Luke had appeared from the trees at the other side if the clearing and was padding across to the den in the fading light. Sara could tell from his relaxed manner that he hadn't found anything new, but she stood at the entrance, waiting for him to arrive. He came into the den, brushed against her flank for a moment, then crossed to where their five children sat, waiting for him. Luke went up to each one and nuzzled them affectionately. "Everything's safe tonight. See you in the morning."
He turned back, and Sara lay down with her mate, resting her head on the Flareon's warm flank. By now, their children had been still and quiet long enough to realize they were tired, and one by one, they curled up, tail over nose.
A minute later, Carson spoke up again. "You know, what we were talking about earlier today? About being ready?"
Sara pricked an ear up as Kara responded to her brother. "Yes."
He continued. "I think I'm beginning to feel something. Just a little." Sara's heart leapt. She had been right – the two of them were ready. One day soon, Luke would take Carson to evolve. Soon after, she would have the privilege of traveling alone with her daughter and of watching her shed her small form and inherit the power that was hers by birth, as Sara's mother had long ago.
Beneath her, Luke's heartbeat had quickened, but all he said was, "When did it start?"
"It started a few days ago. I didn't know what it was."
Luke nodded, though it was impossible for anyone but her to tell in the dark. "Well, it sounds like we'll be making a trip in a month or so. Now, sleep well."
There was a murmur of agreement, and the sounds of breathing calmed and fell into a slow rhythm as the young Eevee fell asleep. For Sara, her mind spinning with thoughts of what the future held, sleep took longer to come, but eventually she was able to quiet her mind and relax, drifting off peacefully as stars appeared in the sky.